Who is Dario Benedetto and why is Boca Juniors striker starting alongside Lionel Messi for Argentina?
Benedetto is sensationally set to start ahead of in-form Paulo Dybala for Argentina's crunch clash in Ecuador
SERGIO AGUERO, Paulo Dybala, Gonzalo Higuain and Mauro Icardi are among the household names who are not set to start up front for Argentina against Ecuador tonight.
Instead, boss Jorge Sampaoli has opted for a man who few in Europe will have heard of - Boca Juniors striker Dario Benedetto.
Who is Dario Benedetto?
Dario Benedetto was born in the province of Buenos Aires in 1990 and came through the ranks at Arsenal (that's Arsenal de Sarandi of Argentina).
After a series of loan spells he played a bit part role as his team won their only league title in 2012.
He then became a regular the following season, scoring seven in 27 games before moving to Mexico where he really made an impact.
Benedetto had a successful spell at Tijuana before moving to America, where he was named the best player in the 2014/15 CONCACAF Champions League.
In 2016 he returned to Argentina with Boca Juniors and ended up top scorer in last season's Argentine Primera Division with 21 goals as he helped his new club to the title.
Why is Benedetto starting for Argentina?
While Benedetto has come off a good season domestically, his CV hardly ranks alongside many of the world class strikers Argentina have.
But following a car crash, Sergio Aguero was never going to be available for this round of international fixtures.
Inter star Mauro Icardi has picked up a knock, according to Sampaoli, which leaves the Juventus duo of Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala.
Higuain has been dropped from the last two Argentina squads, with Sampaoli's system favouring fast-paced players who are able to press the defence.
And the former Chile boss has left the door open for Dybala to return to the team but claims his priority is to create a system which allows Messi plenty of goalscoring opportunities.
Sampaoli said: "As there is no time to work the Dybala-Messi relationship, we should go to something more concrete."
Dybala himself has said that he and Messi are similar players and can make it more difficult for each other to find space when they play together.
In order to accommodate Messi, it has been decided that Benedetto is the best option.
Benedetto was also chosen because the match against Peru was played at his home ground - La Bombonera.
The striker got in some promising positions but missed key chances.
Yet despite this, Sampaoli is set to give the Boca Juniors man another go in Argentina's key clash in Ecuador.
